In the end, Kody Brown's love ended up dividing, not multiplying, his family.
Because when he married fourth wife Robyn Brown in 2010, he got in deeper than he ever imagined possible. "I fell in love with Robyn," the Sister Wives patriarch explained in the Sister Wives: One on One special last November. "I never fell in love with anybody else. I was just choosing to be in that covenant of love with them."
Though he'd been legally wed to Meri Brown for 20 years at the time—with spiritual unions to Janelle Brown and Christine Brown following in 1993 and 1994 respectively—"I was so anxious to be living the principle of plural marriage," he noted to host Sukanya Krishnan, "that I was not vetting who I was marrying to be compatible with me."
Basically he thought if he studied hard enough at How to Be a Husband 101 he could ace the plural marriage test. "If you're going to marry and you're going to marry for eternity, you should start out in love," he acknowledged. "I thought I could make up the difference."
That certainly sounds like a plausible reason for why his first three marriages unraveled over a span of 14 months. But for a while, at least, they truly did have something "really awesome," as Janelle once put it in their TLC series' original opening.
"I think in the beginning we had this big a huge, awesome family," Christine told E! News last November, just a few weeks after she married the love of her life, David Woolley. "And I was super excited to show it to Robyn."
At the time the three wives and their 12 kids—Christine was pregnant with her youngest Truely, now 13—were sharing one Utah compound and felt "so excited" to bring Robyn into the fold, said Christine. "I thought that what we had was super, super cool."
So, apparently, did Kody, who opened their 18-seasons-and-counting series in 2010 by eagerly telling cameras, "My name is Kody Brown and you've got to meet my family."
Explaining that he was a polygamist "but we're not the polygamists you think you know," he introduced his "three awesome wives," while noting he and his spouses were "on the verge of a huge change" due to his impending nuptials to Robyn, already mom to Dayton, Aurora and Breanna, her kids with ex-husband Preston Jessop that Kody would later adopt.
"What you see in the very beginning of the show, really was what was happening," Janelle explained to E! News. "There was a lot of bumps with trying to put the two families together. But we really did work hard."
And for all the tough times—"I just figured that that newlywed phase that Kody and Robyn had would fade and go away," Christine noted of slowly realizing her husband had a favorite wife, "but it never really did"—for years it truly did feel worth it.
"Even when I saw that he really loved her, it didn't really matter because what we had as a family was so cool," Christine explained. "And everybody working together and doing things together, it was so cool."
Though she eventually realized that she wanted a devoted man, not just the family, for years the big, chaotic joy of doing life with 22 close relatives made it all worth it. As she put it, "Can you imagine our holidays? They were so cool."
Those memories feel even more poignant in the wake of Garrison Brown's March 5 death.
"Every photo with Garrison in it is now infinitely more important than ever before," Christine wrote on Instagram of losing Janelle and Kody's 25-year-old son. "I am scrambling for just another glimpse of such an incredible man, brother, son."
Janelle, too, is holding such mementos close, writing in her own March 8 post, "I had all my children together last Christmas. It was amazing as it's hard with everyone's busy lives to coordinate time like this. I am extremely grateful now that we had pictures taken."
At the time of Garrison's death it was unclear if Kody had repaired the rift between himself and some of his older children, having admitted last October that he wasn't on speaking terms with either Garrison or he and Janelle's son Gabriel, 22.
But both Janelle and Christine were hopeful their shared ex could get to a good place with all 18 of his kids.
"I do hope that that eventually time heals," said Janelle. "So I'm hoping that over time, he can find a relationship with the children that he's estranged from now."
Because once upon a time, some 18 seasons of a reality season ago, Kody was a guy raving about his love of marriage ("I'm a repeat offender") and his outsized brood.
"They're special, you'll like them," he said in that premiere episode. "And I'm excited about introducing you to them." Keep reading to meet his sprawling family.
Logan Taylor Brown
Born May 21, 1994, Logan is the oldest son of Kody Brown and Janelle Brown. He is also the eldest child of 18 in Kody's entire brood.
After graduating with a master's degree in business administration from the University of Nevada in 2020, he married Michelle Petty two years later.
Aspyn Kristin Thompson (née Brown)
Aspyn is the oldest child of Kody and Christine Brown. She was born on March 14, 1995.
Also a University of Nevada alum, Aspyn tied the knot with Mitch Thompson in 2018.
Leon "Leo" Brown
Born on July 29, 1995, Leon is the only child of Kody and Meri Brown.
In 2020, Leon came out as transgender, sharing that they were previously "socialized as a girl."
"I was pretty young & unfortunately i grew up in a context that was incredibly gendered & restrictive," Leon—who also goes by "Leo"—wrote on Instagram. "and here’s the thing, i’m finally ready to share my favorite self with the world. and that self is incredibly genderqueer, trans, and unapologetic."
Leon married Audrey Kiss in 2020 at a Colorado courthouse wedding.
Mykelti Ann Padron (née Brown)
The second of Kody and Christine's children, Mykelti was born on June 9, 1996.
She married Antonio "Tony" Padron in 2016 in a wedding ceremony documented on Sister Wives. The couple are parents to daughter Avalon and twin sons Archer and Ace.
Madison Rose Brush (née Brown)
Janelle gave birth to Madison—her second child with Kody—on Nov. 3, 1995.
After studying at Utah State University, Madison married Caleb Brush in 2016. The pair share kids Axel, Evangalynn and Josephine.
Hunter Elias Brown
Janelle and Kody welcomed Hunter—their third child together—on Feb. 9, 1997.
Hunter graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in 2020, before studying nursing at Johns Hopkins University.
Paedon Rex Brown
Kristine gave birth to her and Kody's third child together on Aug. 7, 1998.
Robert Garrison Brown
Born Oct. 31, 1998, Garrison was Kody and Janelle's third youngest child together. He died on March 5, 2024 at age 25.
David "Dayton" Preston Brown
Dayton is the oldest child of Kody's fourth wife Robyn Brown from her past marriage with Preston Jessop. He was adopted into the family in 2015, five years after Robyn spiritually married Kody.
In 2014, Kody legally divorced his first wife Meri so he could marry Robyn and officially adopt Dayton as his son.
Gabriel Winn Brown
Nicknamed Gabe, the fifth child of Kody and Janelle was born on Oct. 11, 2001.
Gwendlyn Genielle Queiroz (née Brown)
Kody and Christine welcomed their fourth child on Oct. 15, 2001.
Gwendlyn tied the knot with Beatriz Queiroz in 2023.
Aurora Alice Brown
Aurora is the second oldest child of Robyn. She was legally adopted by Kody in 2015 after he married Robyn the prior year.
Ysabel Paige Brown
Kody and Christine welcomed their fifth child together on June 13, 2003.
Her struggles with scoliosis have been documented on Sister Wives.
Breanna Rose Brown
Breanna is Robyn's third child from her marriage to Preston. After Robyn married Kody, Breanna and her older siblings were legally adopted into the family.
Savanah Brown
Kody and Janelle welcomed their youngest child together on Dec. 7, 2004. The exes reunited for Savanah's high school graduation in 2023.
Truely Grace Brown
Born on April 13, 2010, Truely is the youngest child of Kody and Christine.
Solomon Kody Brown
Kody and Robyn welcomed their second youngest son on Oct. 27, 2011.
Ariella Mae Brown
Born on Jan. 10, 2016, Ariella is the youngest daughter of Kody and Robyn. She is also the youngest child of 18 in the entire Brown family.